Right at the tip of New Zealand’s South island sits the Golden Bay region: a remote and laid back area which is home to the quite remarkable Farewell Spit, a 26km long spit of sand that once stretched all the way across to the North Island. These days higher sea levels mean that such a […]
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The Abel Tasman National Park
Situated near the top end of New Zealand’s south island, the Abel Tasman national park is home to stunning golden sand beaches, rugged cliffs, native bush and a whole bunch of seals who could do with a breath mint or three. It’s a hugely popular summer time destination for Kiwis and tourists alike, with many […]
Picton to Nelson with Queen Charlotte
Picton is the first place you come to on New Zealand’s south island, having been wowed by the rather awesome ferry crossing from Wellington. More on that ferry crossing, including some photos of our mill pond like crossing, can be found as part of a guest blog I did for Denise over at NZ Escapes, […]
Rivendell and beyond
You may think, having read some of my posts on exploring the world of Tolkien as it has been realised in New Zealand, that the filming locations from the three Lord of the Rings films are treated as sacred, almost hallowed ground. You probably imagine that domes have been carefully placed over the sites in […]
Dimholt: Walking the roads of the dead
The ongoing quest to see as many parts of the Lord of the Rings scenery as possible has continued, with a trip to the Cape Palliser pinnacles, where Aragorn, Gimli and Leglolas spent some time wandering in order to awaken the army of the dead in Return of the King. Cape Palliser is near the […]
Highlights of the Wairarapa
You know those friends of yours who come back from some “life changing” trip, and bore you to tears for ages on end with the joy of travel and how incredibly awesome the whole thing was, slide show and all? (Yes, I appreciate a travel blog is a very similar thing. Bear with me.) Well, […]
Art Deco on the East Coast
You know when you play Bioshock, and the whole game has this weird 1930’s feel complete with odd writing and funny hats? Well, walking around Napier or Hastings on New Zealand’s East Coast is very much like that gaming experience, only with less on the ghoulish child front and more on the arty, pretty front. […]
New Zealand’s Spectacular East Cape
The East Cape of New Zealand’s North island has a lot going for it. Driftwood fringed beaches jut up against towering cliffs and deserted roads. Spectacular vistas lie around every corner. And it is perhaps the most Maori influenced part of all New Zealand – the closest one may come to seeing how New Zealand […]
What Hobbiton taught me
I recently visited the set of the Lord of the Rings filming location for Hobbiton in New Zealand. Sadly, that is about all I am allowed to actually write about the experience, due to a rather impressive looking piece of legal paper I had to sign that I’m pretty sure gives Peter Jackson the rights […]
Zorbing Rotorua
Although I have now left Rotorua, there is one more thing I need to tell you about my time there before moving on to new adventures. This thing being the weird and wonderful adventure activity known as Zorbing. Zorbing, for those of you not familiar with this oddly Kiwi pastime, involves putting oneself into a […]